On the eve of Napoli’s do-or-die clash against Arsenal in UEFA Champions League Group F play at the San Paolo on Wednesday, Reuters is reporting that coach RafaelBenitez is starting to feel the heat from Napoli supporters, who are said to be fed up with the club’s defensive errors as well as Spaniard’s habit of tinkering with his starting11. Most of their discontent has come from Napoli’s performances in Serie A, which have seen last season’s second-place team fall eight points behind league leader Juventus.
“Wehave to do better in defense,” Benitez said. “We have committed individual mistakes that we cannot allow to happen. Everyone expected Napoli to be playing the way we were at the start of thechampionship and with more points in the bag. I’m as unhappy about it as anyone else. Against Arsenal, we have to score two or three goals and play better in defense.”
Napoli needs to beatArsenal at home on Tuesday by at least two goals and then hope that Borussia Dortmund fails to beat Marseille in the group’s other match in France in order to be sure of qualifying for the UCLRound of 16. However, if Napoli and Dortmund both win, the top three clubs would all have 12 points and identical head-to-head records, resulting in the tiebreaker coming down to goal differential,which heavily favors Arsenal and Dortmund.